Spectacular late try secures victory

Bath Rugby’s Will Butt scored a sensational last minute try to secure a spectacular 19-18 win over Leicester Tigers under the lights at the Rec on Friday night.

The blue, black and white were looking to extend their winning streak in the league to three after victories over Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons, and they began excellently.

After a searing break from Bath’s in-form new recruit Ollie Lawrence, Leicester were pinged at the following breakdown. Fly-half Orlando Bailey’s kick bisected the uprights and Bath were up within two minutes.

The lead wasn’t enjoyed for long though as Tigers hit back almost immediately. Some smart interplay in midfield from Freddie Burns, as well as some sharp carries from full-back Anthony Watson and Olly Cracknell, dented the Bath defensive line. Burns’ neat pass found the rampaging Nemani Nadolo and he crashed through two tackles to dot down on the corner. Burns nailed the touchline kick as well to make it 7-3.

Leicester threatened to extend their lead with a sequence of aggressive attacking phases. Nadolo showed the dextrous side of his game as his beautiful pull-back pass set outside centre Harry Potter through a huge gap. Bath forced a knock on though and their defence held strong. Despite relentless pressure inside Bath’s 22, Leicester could still not find a way through.

Bath were pinged at the breakdown and gave Burns the simplest of kicks to stretch their lead to seven. Bath hit back with a sensational score just before the half hour mark. Jonathan Joseph showed his international pedigree as he glided through the defence and linked up in midfield with Miles Reid before finding Ted Hill who managed to ride the tackle of Nadolo. The Rec erupted as he finished in the corner. Bailey couldn’t level the scores as his conversion just flew past the uprights.

In what was the theme of the first half, Leicester looked to hit back almost immediately.

Potter was denied a try after he couldn’t gather a kick through and it looked like it wasn’t the centre’s night after he spilled the ball over the line in the next phase. He got on the end of a smart move involving Watson and Chris Ashton down the left, but couldn’t finish it off.

The score finally came for the Tigers as they launched a devastating driving maul which crashed over Bath’s line, with loose-head James Cronin at the back at the set piece.

Considering the pressure Bath were under throughout the course of the first half, they would have been pleased with just an eight point deficit.

The first ten minutes of the second half were scrappy as neither side put together any meaningful phases of attacking play.

Bath turned the screw in the 53rd minute when they turned over a Leicester attack and spread the ball wide to find Bailey with acres to run into. He was quickly hunted down by Leicester’s defence, but not before he could put the ball on his toe and pin Leicester back in their own 22.

Tigers managed to clear their lines, but only as far as a rampaging Matt Gallagher who raced over halfway and chipped ahead. Potter cantered back to clean up but knocked on and Bath were given the perfect attacking platform. They moved through the phases before eventually earning a penalty which Bailey chipped over bringing the hosts to within four points.

After a strong carry in midfield by Cracknell, who had carried relentlessly all night, Bayliss was pinged for a high tackle on the number eight which gave Burns the chance to make the scores 21-11. Tom Dunn charged down a 22 drop out from Burns and Bath’s forwards piled in to earn a turnover.

Burns’ error was made worse after he was penalised from the following scrum for a deliberate knock-on in midfield. The number ten was potentially slightly fortunate to avoid the sin bin, but Bailey added to three more to his points tally, bringing the score line to 18-14 to Leicester.

With seven minutes left, Bath looked to mount an assault on Leicester’s lead.

Scotland international Cameron Redpath scythed through and looked to link up with Butt, but the Tigers were saved by Watson who expertly intercepted Redpath’s pass.

Bath won a huge scrum penalty in the 77th minute to give them a chance to get the score they needed to emerge victorious. Bailey’s kick was phenomenal and found touch on Leicester’s five metre line.

They went through the phases and the ball was spun wide to Butt and the Rec will not have seen a better finish all season as the big winger rode the tackle of two defenders and finished acrobatically in the corner.

His miraculous finish sent the Rec into pandemonium and sealed a one-point win for Bath that will live long in the memory.